Turtledove
Register
Advertisement
USMClogo

The United States Marine Corps (USMC) is a separate branch of the U.S. armed forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the U.S. Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces.

It operates on land, sea and in the air.

United States Marine Corps in Days of Infamy[]

The United States Marine Corps was considered an elite fighting force by the men who made up its ranks. After the Japanese invaded and conquered Hawaii, the Marines' first assignment was to take the islands back. However, the botched Naval Battle that occurred in mid 1942 prevented them from landing on the island. By 1943, their ranks had swelled with new recruits resulting in at least two Marine divisions taking part in the liberation of the islands in 1943.

Sergeants Les Dillon and Dutch Wenzel were members of the Marine Corps.

United States Marine Corps in Joe Steele[]

Literary comment[]

In the short story, the United States Marines were the first to stop the invasion of South Japan by North Japan near Utsunomiya during the Japanese War. In the novel, the Army did this.

United States Marine Corps in "Liberating Alaska"[]

The United States was one of several countries that intervened in the Russian Civil War, sending the U.S. Marine Corps to Siberia to combat the Red Army. While the Reds won and established the Soviet Union, their leader, Vladimir Lenin, was forced to cede a number of Russian territories. As the Marines withdrew from Siberia, they were able to seize Alaska, Russia's one territory in North America. Lenin could not contest it.[1]

Veterans of the U.S. invasion of Siberia would later help liberate Siknazuak, Alaska in June 1929 after Joseph Stalin sent troops to take the city. Siknazuak's close proximity to Siberia made the initial invasion easy for the Soviets. However, the U.S. invaded with overwhelming force, capturing or killing a substantial number of the invading Soviets. However, enough Soviets escaped that the U.S. realized it would need to maintain a permanent garrison in Siknazuak to counter any insurgencies.[2]

United States Marine Corps in Southern Victory[]

The United States Marine Corps was an elite unit of fighting men associated with the US Navy. Its first major action occurred in 1914 early in the Great War, when a regiment of US Marines was successfully used to take the Sandwich Islands away from the British.[3]

A generation later in the Second Great War, the Marines launched an amphibious landing operation in the Mexican state of Baja California in 1943. In 1944, they liberated the Republic of Haiti. The Marines were also used on raids such as the successful one on Ocracoke Island where they destroyed a Confederate Y-range station.

United States Marine Corps in The War That Came Early[]

The US Marine Corps was mainly being used as a police force in China, looking out for the safety of US Nationals when World War II began in 1938. When Japan began it's war with the Soviet Union, the Marines, along with the US embassy were moved from Peking to Shanghai.

When war broke out between the US and Japan in January 1941, many US Marines found themselves isolated in China, and on islands like Guam, and Wake. These marines were captured and sent to Unit 731. The US Marines' first offensive operation was the liberation of Wake Island. Although a success, they were isolated after the Naval battle that occurred north of the island ended in defeat for the US Navy.

Paramarines, Marines trained in airborne landings, were involved in the recapture of Midway.

Literary comment[]

The use of Paramines seems to reference the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment in OTL, which never saw a combat airdrop or large scale use and were disbanded without seeing action in 1944.

References[]

  1. Asimov's Science Fiction, July/August, 2018.
  2. Ibid.
  3. American Front, pg. 61, HC.
Advertisement